Shari Dahmer, Stepmother of Notorious Cannibal Killer Jeffrey Dahmer, Dies at 81
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Stepmother of notorious cannibal killer Jeffrey Dahmer dies at 81: Shari Dahmer dies in an Ohio nursing home after standing by her beleaguered husband despite the horrible truth about their son
- Shari Dahmer died at an Ohio nursing home Friday night at age 81.
- She was married to the father of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, Lionel Dahmer.
- As Dahmer’s stepmother, she said she tried to care for the troublesome young man.
- She and her husband regularly visited Dahmer while he was in prison for murder.
The stepmother of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer died Friday at the age of 81.
Shari Dahmer passed away in a nursing home in Seville, Ohio, where she lived near the home she shared with her husband and Jeffrey Dahmer’s father, Lionel.
It is believed that he died of complications related to a decline in health that he had experienced in recent years, according to the US Sun.
Shari was known for sticking with her husband, now 86, even as the horrific truth of her son’s brutally violent cannibalistic crimes came to light.
Shari Dahmer passed away at the nursing home in Seville, Ohio, where she lived near the home she shared with her husband and Jeffrey Dahmer’s father, Lionel.
Shari sits next to Lionel Dahmer during Jeffrey Dahmer’s trial
Shari and Lionel married in 1978 after he divorced Jeffrey’s mother.
She never had children of her own, but said she felt an immediate desire to be a mother to Jeffery when she married Lionel.
Shari said her impression of Jeffery was that he was a “vulnerable” young man who was “embarrassed and embarrassed” that his parents had divorced.
She said that he was ‘very good at hiding his feelings’.
“She also tried to connect with Jeff as his stepmother,” a source told the Sun.
She was a good stepmother.
Lionel and Shari Dahmer in front of the prison where Jeffrey Dahmer was incarcerated
Lionel and Shari Dahmer speak to each other during Jeffrey Dahmer’s trial in 1992
Shari always stood by her husband when his life was turned upside down by revelations that her son had murdered 17 people and even eaten and disemboweled some of his victims.
“Shari was a good woman and Lionel wouldn’t be the man he is today without her,” the source said.
“She was there with him through everything that happened with Jeff, she was Lionel’s rock through it all.”
The couple appeared together during a 2004 interview with Larry King on CNN.
She and Lionel remained close to Jeffrey while he was incarcerated and even visited him regularly.
The Seville, Ohio home where Shari lived with her husband Lionel Dahmer
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. The gruesome murders involved rape, necrophilia, and cannibalism.
The source told the Sun that Shari and Lionel had not been able to see each other much in recent months after his health declined.
“Lionel hasn’t really been able to go see Shari much of late, I think the last time he saw her was in October,” they said.
“There won’t be a funeral, according to Shari’s will, she didn’t want a service or anything like that.”
“She just wanted to be cremated and left instructions in her will about what she wanted done with the ashes.”
Jeffrey Dahmer sitting in a courtroom in 2991 after his arrest
Shari was played by Molly Ringwald in the 2022 Netflix show about the life of Jeffrey Dahmer.
The source Shari was not happy that the show was made.
“When the series and documentary came out last year, Shari just wished they would leave him alone, but he used stronger language than that.”
Lionel was also dissatisfied with the documentary, saying he thought the shows sexualized his son instead of focusing on his mental health.